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Fact-Checking 6 Myths About The Perpetrators Of Mass Shootings

Mass shooters killed 31 people last weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, and three people in Gilroy, California, last month, including two children. The week was the deadliest for mass shootings and fatalities this year, whichever way one chooses to count them.

In the wake of these incidents, we often hear “no one could have seen this coming,” or “this person just snapped.” But what do we know about the perpetrators of mass shootings?

Recent reports from the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center and the FBI both analyzed mass shootings in public spaces. In these reports, the FBI and the Secret Service looked at the behaviors and backgrounds of active shooters involved in these attacks and presented some key findings, including their motivations, the weapons they used, and their history of violent behavior.

Based on what their analyses revealed, here are six common misconceptions about the perpetrators of mass shootings:

Myth: Mass shooters have a specific profile that can be easily spotted ahead of time.

“There’s actually no useful profile of a mass shooter,” Randazzo said, “but there’s a lot we can look at in terms of behavior.”

For example, the FBI report referenced above finds that while the 63 active shooters examined in the study couldn’t be linked based on demographics alone:

62% of the shooters had a history of acting in an abusive, harassing, or oppressive way (e.g. excessive bullying, workplace intimidation); 16% had engaged in intimate partner violence, and 11% had engaged in stalking-related conduct.

Myth: They’re all mentally ill.

Fact: Only a quarter studied have been diagnosed with a mental illness.

It bears emphasizing: The vast majority of people with mental illness never commit violent crimes.

Myth: Mass shootings aren’t premeditated.

Fact: Most take a week or more to plan the attack.

The FBI researched 34 active shootings between 2000 and 2013 and found that in 77% of the cases, the subject spent a week or longer planning the attack.

“In this context, ‘planning’ means the full range of considerations involved in carrying out a shooting attack” according to the FBI report, such as making the choice to “engage in violence” and selecting targets.

The FBI researched 34 active shootings between 2000 and 2013 and found that in 77% of the cases, the subject spent a week or longer planning the attack.

The FBI researched 34 active shootings between 2000 and 2013 and found that in 77% of the cases, the subject spent a week or longer planning the attack.

In its research, the FBI found that in more than half the cases where “concerning behaviors” were displayed, the first behavior was reported over two years before the shooter carried out their attack.

The FBI found that in 56% of active shooters studied, the first concerning behavior was noticed over two years prior.

Silver, J., Simons, A., & Craun, S. (2018). A Study of the Pre-Attack Behaviors of Active Shooters in the United States Between 2000 – 2013./FBI

In the Secret Service analysis, approximately half (48%) of shooters in 2018 had histories of criminal charges beyond minor traffic violations. About 30% had a history of domestic violence.

And just as in the FBI’s report, more than three-quarters (78%) of the attackers “exhibited behaviors that caused concern in others.”

These were observed sometimes by family members and also by strangers in their communities. Behaviors included social media posts with alarming content, inappropriate behavior toward females and writing about violence and weapons.

Myth: Mass shooters get their guns illegally.

Fact: Nearly 75% of the active shooters studied by the FBI legally purchased or possessed the firearm used in the crime.

Since 1982, there have been 114 mass shootings in the U.S., most of them involved guns bought legally.

Luis Melgar/Guns & America

Each state regulates gun possession differently. For example, a handful of states have laws barring people convicted of criminal stalking from purchasing a firearm. Others require owners to register certain “long guns” (a firearm fired while braced against a shoulder, like a shotgun or a rifle.)